Do you live in a ‘Hot-Spot’, ‘Slow-Spot’ or ‘Not-Spot’?
May 27, 2009 at 3:31 PM Lawrence Hall Leave a comment
Can you believe that even in this day and age, research from SamKnows has found that over 3 million homes (that’s 15% of homes) across the UK have a broadband speed of less than two megabits per second (Mbps).
Worryingly, that could mean that 3 million people are struggling to download all the lovely Zoopla.co.uk property details and images (!) as well as having issues shopping online, tweeting on twitter or simply sending emails.
Fear not, help is at hand…we only have to wait till 2012!
In the government’s interim Digital Britain report they have promised to provide all homes in the UK with a broadband speed of at least 2 Mbps by 2012.
What is interesting and somewhat surprising, is that this issue is not just restricted to rural communities but affects the commuter band also.
So, with many people trading local area info using Zoopla’s AskMe! community tool and over 80% of people starting their property search online, we thought we’d look at how many ‘slow-spots’ the UK’s top ten cities have (excluding London).
Using the website broadband-notspot.org.uk we’ve ranked the top 10 UK cities (by population) and surrounding areas (20 mile radius) according to the number of ‘slow-spots’ we found.
As you would expect, the cities don’t have ‘not-spots’ but surprisingly, they do have ‘slow-spots’. This is how the cities rank:
| Slow-spots | Cities |
| 1 | Birmingham, Bristol, Bradford |
| 2 | Liverpool |
| 3 | Edinburgh, Cardiff |
| 4 | Manchester, Glasgow |
| 5 | Leeds, Sheffield |
If you think you live in a broadband ‘not-spot’ or ’slow-spot’, here are a few handy tips from our friends at Ofcom.
- Some broadband services can be affected by electrical interference. Try calling your internet service provider (ISP) who can recommend ways that this can be reduced (e.g. fitting additional filters to your telephone sockets).
- You may find that at peak times, like the roads, your broadband speed is a lot slower, so varying the times you use your connection may help.
- Moving to a faster broadband package won’t necessarily speed up your connection because of where you live. So be sure to speak to your ISP about the maximum speed you can achieve with your current telephone / data line.
- Switching your ISP may improve speeds. Comparison websites and ‘best buy’ guides can provide you with an indication of ISPs with good speed performance and also let you know whether other customers are happy with that ISP.
You may also find some of these links useful:
Check out your speed : broadbandspeedchecker.co.uk
Broadband availability: broadbandperformance.co.uk
Monitor your usage: thinkbroadband.com
Coverage map: broadband-notspot.org.uk
Entry filed under: Digital Britain, Site Features, Social media. Tags: broadband, online, property, Social media.
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